In today’s post, we will look at the public ministry of
Jesus. Like with last time when we
discussed his childhood, we will go through this stage of Jesus’ life much too quickly, but again, the Church
commemorates and makes present all these mysteries throughout the course of the
year in the Liturgy, and thus, invites us to reflect on each of them more
deeply.
It started with his baptism. This
event is full of meaning that the Catechism (#536) explains: The
baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission
as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he
is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".
Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death.
Already he is coming to "fulfill all righteousness", that is,
he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents
to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father's voice responds to the Son's
acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The Spirit
whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on
him". Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind.
At his baptism "the heavens were opened" - the heavens
that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of
Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.
Jesus, as an obedient servant, immerses himself into our
condition for our redemption, and becomes a source of new life for the world.
Through our own baptism, we, too, must become humble, die to
our own will, and be a source of grace for the world.
After the baptism, Jesus enters into the desert for a time of solitude, during
which he is tempted by the
devil. Like the baptism, this event is
full of meaning which the Catechism explains (#539): The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning
of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just
where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfills Israel's
vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty
years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally obedient
to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror: he "binds the
strong man" to take back his plunder Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert
anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial
love for the Father
Jesus is victorious over Satan through his obedience. He is victorious over the devil for us.
Every year during Lent, this mystery of Christ in the desert is made
present to us. Only through him, can we, too, be victorious in our struggle over sin and death.
Jesus then begins his preaching, the central theme of which
is the “Kingdom of God”. This notion of
the Kingdom of God probably deserves a series of its own, but for now, let us
just summarize a few key points:
1)
Everyone
is called to enter the kingdom. First
announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to
accept men of all nations (#543)
2)
The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have
accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the
poor"; he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the
kingdom of heaven (#544)
3)
The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it
with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven (545)
4)
Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes
in the form of parables,
a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he
invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical
choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not
enough, deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man:
will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he
made of the talents he has received (#546)
The Kingdom of God is evidenced not just by words, but by signs, or miracles. They invite belief
in him. They attest that the kingdom is in him and that
he was indeed sent by the Father.
The Kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus’
preaching. The Kingdom is where God
reigns: it is heaven, where we share
communion of life and love with the Holy Trinity, and all the angels and
saints. But to enter it requires
humility and sacrifice. We, too, must
have heaven as our goal always. It must be the central theme so-to-speak of
our life. And we must be prepared to suffer some to achieve it.
Jesus gives the keys
to the Kingdom to Peter. "I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19). The successors of Peter throughout the ages,
down to and including our current Holy Father Pope Francis, have the divinely
appointed authority to administer the riches of the kingdom.
Our Lord gave us a foretaste of the Kingdom is in his Transfiguration. For a
moment, Jesus discloses his divine glory.
This gives us a taste for what our own bodily resurrection will be, and
what we will be like in the fullness of the Kingdom.
At the end of his public ministry, Jesus ascends to, and enters Jerusalem. Other
prophets before him who had like Jesus called for repentance in anticipation of
a new kingdom were put to death in Jerusalem, and now it was his turn. (Unlike those other prophets, though, Jesus is God, and he is the only one who
actually inaugurates the Kingdom through his Death and Resurrection.) The
Catechism has some beautiful words (#559, #560) ) about his entry into
Jerusalem which we commemorate every year on Palm (Passion) Sunday, and they
again touch back on the central theme of the Kingdom: Acclaimed as son of David, as
the one who brings salvation (Hosanna means
"Save!" or "Give salvation!"), the "King of
glory" enters his City "riding on an ass" Jesus
conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by
violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth. And
so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God's poor, who
acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds. Jesus'
entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the
King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and
Resurrection.
So now we are at the precipice of the Paschal Mystery, Our Lord's Death and Resurrection, where the Kingdom of God will actually be inaugurated. We will discuss the Paschal Mystery in the next two posts: the first on his suffering and death, and the second on his resurrection.
Joseph, lover of poverty, pray for us.
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